WOMEN S RIGHTS SOME PROGRESS, MANY GAPS

Transcription

1 WOMEN S RIGHTS SOME PROGRESS, MANY GAPS Shadow report by Dutch NGOs; an examination of the Fifth Report by the Government of the Netherlands on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Netwerk VN-Vrouwenverdrag (Dutch CEDAW Network), November 2009

3 Women s Rights some progress, many gaps Shadow report by Dutch NGOs; an examination of the Fifth Report by the Government of The Netherlands On Implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Netwerk VN-Vrouwenverdrag (Dutch CEDAW Network), November, 2009

6 Contents Table of Contents Introduction... 8 The process of shadow reporting... 8 Structure of this shadow report... 8 Part 1 - General remarks Dutch government Reporting Some progress, but insufficiently result-oriented Change of conceptual approach to the implementation of the Convention? Absolutely no reference to General Recommendations Is lack of sex-disaggregated data due to resistance to gender mainstreaming? Different references to Convention text - intentional or not? Policies Promoting Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming New impulse for emancipation policies not yet visible everywhere Fostering dialogue with civil society about Gender Mainstreaming Government responsible for the elimination of discrimination Independent assessment of revitalised (gender mainstreaming) policy? Gender budget analyses and gender impact assessments vanish No support among NGOs for shift in the subsidy policies Special women s vocational training lost through subsidy shift Discrepancies in the Dutch government s policies at home and abroad Different appreciation of the role of women s rights organisations Promotion of LGBT-rights and the Yogyakarta Principles Addressing the needs of the girl child abroad Combating violence against women abroad - domestic violence at home Status of CEDAW Instruction to state solicitor not to acknowledge direct effect of CEDAW Dutch individual complaints according to the Optional Protocol Low usage of CEDAW in court cases Referring to CEDAW when implementing gender equality policies? No active distribution of General Recommendations of CEDAW In-depth assessments of the implementation of CEDAW abolished National reports shrink to policy-oriented single-theme research Part 2 Comments per article of the Convention Article 1 & 2 Elimination of all discrimination against women Violence against women Too narrow focus on violence against women of migrant origin Policy on domestic violence in progress time for an update? First experiences house prohibition of perpetrators Women more often than men victims of elderly abuse Policy paper announced on prevention of sexual violence Gender-sensitive asylum procedures in progress Many residence permits granted to victims of violence? Honour-related violence: what are the facts and figures? Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation further improved? Sexual harassment less prominent in legislation Enforcement of prevention of discrimination by Labour Inspectorate No motivation by Supreme Court disregarding Equal Treatment Commission Slow progress of reinforcement of Equal Treatment Act Public campaign rather silence about pregnancy-discrimination Including gender identity in the General Equal Treatment Act? National Human Rights Institute curtailing gender-expertise centres? No concrete measures by the government to reduce the salary gap M/F Method of research by Labour Inspectorate disputed Equal Pay Day very bleak compared to Belgium example Finally, role in enforcement of Equal Pay for Labour Inspectorate? Government missed opportunity to reduce gender pay gap in financial sector How to keep equal pay high on the agenda in the economic crisis?

7 Contents 6. Changes in social security legislation indirectly discriminatory Many more women lost (part of) their Invalidity Benefit (WAO) Women overrepresented among new (WGA/WIA) Invalidity beneficiaries No figures available on impact of tightening unemployment-benefit Gender differences in disability benefit for handicapped young persons Work and Welfare benefits for under 27s abolished Gender equality in Foreign Policies New financial pledges and enhanced policy focus Support channelled through Dutch development NGOs Gender mainstreaming and monitoring of mainstreaming performance Benchmarks and resources required for National Action Plan Final concern: how to maintain a gender-focus in the context of reduced budgets?.. 29 Article 3 Ensuring the full development and advancement of women No information about developments regarding women s income Is economic independence of women really an important aim? Women, especially single mothers, overrepresented amongst working poor Involuntary part-time and precarious work Even more poverty for single parents when child turns Can the Part-timePlus Taskforce reinforce women s legal position? Effect of tax measures overestimated Additional proof for the overestimation of poverty-trap Abolishment of independent allowance/tax credit: an improvement? Unsatisfactory answer to request about women living in poverty No measures to address higher female unemployment Re-integration policies hardly benefit women Mixed feelings about policies regarding women of migrant origin Recognition of Acquired Competences for refugee women? Diminished social protection of domestic workers and homecare workers Childminders next category of workers with disguised employment relation? More women in top positions? Article 4 Temporary special measures accelerating de facto equality & Article 11 Eliminating discrimination in employment Refusal to discuss temporary special measures in European Union The use of quota by the European Commission Temporary special measures allowed but hardly used No support for the use of temporary measures including quotas yet? No maternity benefit for entrepreneurs Will the extension of parental leave and payment via tax-credit work? Monitoring of collective agreements regarding paid parental leave? Progress with regard to childcare but demand requires more Childcare during lunch-break is not part of the Childcare Provisions Act Gender-bias in approach of labour migration No guarantee to return to former job after maternity leave Discrimination monitor of non-western ethnic minorities Article 5 Addressing the stereotyped roles for men and women? Is the government addressing men s stereotyped role effectively? Government s response to Plan of the Man not very convincing Is the government effectively addressing women s stereotyped role? Promotion of diversity hand in hand with combating stereotypes Government and politicians reinforce stereotypes in immigration debate Breaking through the glass wall continued? Talent to the Top Charter promising real progress or window-dressing? Integrating gender in teacher training more important than increasing number of male teachers Article 6 Combating trafficking in women and forced prostitution Criminal approach barrier to protection of trafficking victims Residence permit on humanitarian grounds restricted to limited group of victims Discretionary power is not an official policy Role of NGOs not recognized in identification of victims of trafficking Failure to identify victims in aliens detention

8 Contents NGOs not represented in the anti-trafficking Task Force No government response to recommendations of the National Rapporteur Criminalisation of unregistered prostitutes does not improve their position Mandatory registration of prostitutes does not help to combat trafficking Criminalisation of clients will not protect prostitutes or combat trafficking Disproportionate quantity of funds for exit programmes prostitutes Trafficking and exploitation in other sectors than the sex industry Article 7 Equal participation in political and social life & Article 8 Equal representation at the international level Still a long way to go? Equal representation of women in political and social life no longer an aim Lasting stagnation in political participation at local level Backlash in nomination and appointment of Queens Commissioners Ensuring women s participation in the formulation of government policy? No convincing answer to Q 25 - refusal to use quota for political positions Could changes in electoral system achieve equal participation of women? Poor information about representation at the international level Article 9 Equal rights of obtaining, changing or retaining a nationality & Article 16 Equal rights in respect of marriage and family relationships Gender-Based Discrimination in the Law on Names Tightening rules on family reunification disproportionately affects women Policy on knowledge-migration violates family relations Time limit for family reunification refugees violates article Increased dependency of residence permit affects women more than men Pregnant women screened HIV positive should obtain residence permit Plan for parenthood limits access to divorce proceedings Love exiles same-sex couples welcome in the Netherlands More priority for non-legal measures in combating forced marriages No general pardon for wives of so called 1F asylum seekers? Article 10 Equal right to education Many activities to diversify educational opportunities but results unknown Decrease or increase of gender segregation in secondary education? End of another expert organization Shortfall in mathematics of girls from migrant origin Educational streaming at an early age limits inflow of girls into science studies Obstacles for women to lifelong learning Less training opportunities for women workers Article 12 Right to health care and special measures during pregnancy Gender differences in illness, risk factors, treatment and health Increased risk of death for ethnic-minority babies, children and adults Failure to include women in treatment trials and testing of medicines Need for gender sensitive courses in health education and training More gender differences in informal care for elderly and disabled Household assistance in the Social Support Act Government s budget cuts hit elderly women hardest Assessing gender impacts of changes in the EMEA/AWBZ? Limited access to health care for undocumented women Research into health and healthcare needs of undocumented women Contraceptive pill back in basic health insurance package Mamma prostheses for transgenders excluded from health insurance Improved access to Morning-after pill Refusal of improvement of access to menstrual regulation Menstrual regulation now under Pregnancy Termination Act? More research on health of lesbian and bisexual women needed Sterilization requirement of transgenders reviewed % Drugs Control at Airport: Pregnant Women locked in Better policies required for women living with HIV/aids Article 13 Elimination of discrimination against women in other areas No information about (micro)credit and access to bank loans Limited approach of recreational activities and sports

9 Contents Is Time for sport a good example of gender mainstreaming in reality? Article 14 Ensuring full participation of women in rural areas No policy development with respect to women in rural areas Address bigger differences between women and men in rural areas? Results of projects and incentive measures apparently not available Transport difficulties of elderly women in rural areas leading to isolation List of Recommendations Acronyms Bibliography

10 Introduction Introduction This shadow report on the 5 th Report from the Netherlands about the Implementation of the UN-Women s Convention, period has been compiled by the Dutch CEDAW Network. The independent network consists of a core group of ten Dutch NGOs and several individual CEDAW specialists. Dozens of other NGOs are connected, forming an outer circle. Since the network itself is not a legal entity, one of the participating NGOs, namely Aim for human rights 1, which holds consultative status at ECOSOC, serves in that capacity. The preparation, writing and presentation to the CEDAW-Committee was funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, which currently coordinates implementation of the Convention. The process of shadow reporting The process of shadow reporting was slightly different from previous occasions. In 2007, the Dutch CEDAW Network started to monitor the implementation of the Concluding Comments of the fourth periodic report of the Netherlands (CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/4). Together with other NGOs working on some of the issues the network selected a few of the Principal areas of concern and recommendations as focal points: maternity benefit for entrepreneurs, violence against women, prostitution and trafficking of women, and family reunion. It presented developments with respect to these issues in the Monitor in mid The government handed in its 5 th report in the summer of 2008 and the network began open consultation with NGOs to identify main issues to address in the shadow report and draft a profile for the rapporteurs/spokespersons. At the end of November 2008 the network was informed about the schedule for the 45 th session and the change of the Committee s procedure: the Pre-session of 9 February The time was too short to prepare a fullfledged shadow report, so the Dutch CEDAW Network decided to select a few issues arising from the consultation and the Monitor. These included concerns surrounding domestic workers, informal care and the Status of CEDAW (applicability within the legal order), which are to be found in the NGOs Notes. 3 Two representatives of the Dutch CEDAW Network presented the NGOs views at the Pre-session and reported via a weblog to the wider NGOs audience in the Netherlands. 4 After an open procedure two coordinators/ rapporteurs were selected and several expertmeetings on a wide range of subjects were held. Preliminary drafts were worked through by the CEDAW Network, as well as by experts who contributed. Thus over a hundred people have been involved in the process directly, and many more indirectly. The hosting of the expert-meetings, together with the time and energy of the NGOs experts (staff as well as volunteers), amounts to financial contributions on the part of the NGOs. The rapporteurs also looked at (shadow) reports under other UN-Conventions and presentations by the Dutch government to other human rights bodies. A final draft was widely distributed among NGOs for approval. The presentation of the final report took place on 24 November 2009 at a public NGO meeting. In the midst of this process, a meeting on the List of Issues and Questions was convened between NGOs and representatives of the Ministries engaged in the processing of the answers, initiated by the Dutch CEDAW Network. 5 Structure of this shadow report In Part 1, the NGOs present general remarks. Part 2 examines the individual articles of the Convention. Part 1 opens with comments about the manner of reporting adopted by the Dutch government. Section 2 discusses the general state of affairs with respect to the role of the 1 Formerly known as Humanist Committee on Human Rights 2 (last visit (last visit ) 4 5 CEDAW 2009, Government of the Netherlands

11 Introduction government in implementing the Convention and promoting gender equality and gender mainstreaming, and includes most of the questions and answers presented under the headings general and legislative, policy and institutional framework. In the third section, the NGOs highlight some of the seeming discrepancies in the Dutch government s approach. The fourth section discusses the Status of CEDAW and its applicability in the domestic legal order. The chapters about the various individual articles in Part 2 follow the government s line of reporting. Since the government sometimes addresses the same issue under different articles (for instance women in decision making positions), this shadow report does the same. Within each chapter, the main issues are identified in paragraphs sometimes consisting of subparagraphs focusing on related subjects. Each (sub-) paragraph concludes with a suggestion in italics to the CEDAW-Committee hereafter referred to as the Committee. All these suggestions and recommendations have been compiled in the List of Recommendations. The titles of the (sub-) paragraphs summarise the issue at stake so the table of contents can be regarded as an executive summary of the shadow report. The format of the 5 th government report that has been sent to parliament contains a different page numbering compared to the report that can be found at the UN website. 6 Therefore this shadow report uses a double reference when referring to the government s report: p. x / y in CEDAW/C/NLD/5. 6 Parliamentary Papers II 2007/ nr. 122 Bijlage (attachment) to be found via resp 9

12 Part 1 General Remarks Part 1 - General remarks 1. Dutch government Reporting Some progress, but insufficiently result-oriented The 5 th Government Report is certainly more comprehensive than the previous one. NGOs regret, though that it is still not analytical or as result-oriented as required in CEDAW guidelines E.3. It is too much of a summary of measures and intentions (to quote the government p. 46/ p. 87 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5). Instead, clear objectives should have been established, and progress monitored regarding achievement of these with additional measures instituted when efforts by national or local authorities and other organisations fall short. The NGOs appreciate government s effort to provide the Committee with more information by attaching several appendices. It is, however, not clear why the individual appendices were attached. Why, for instance, was the 5 th report of the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings attached, without an opinion by the government with respect to the recommendations of the Rapporteur? 7 Why was the overall report of the Emancipation Review Commission (VCE) A bit better is not good enough not attached as an appendix? The summary of the VCE conclusions the government presents is, in the view of the NGOs, not even a shadow of the real outcome. NGOs believe the Committee would have appreciated the overall report of the Emancipation Review Commission (VCE) as an appendix because of the large overlap in concerns between the Commission and the CEDAW Committee. The NGOs suggest that the Committee asks the government why it limits itself to providing information on measures and intentions rather than results, and why it did not provide a translation of the overall VCE report. Change of conceptual approach to the implementation of the Convention? It is also unfortunate that the 5 th report does not follow the conceptual approach of the 2 nd, and 3 rd ones. This identified three levels of policy: - achievement of complete equality for women before the law; - improvement of the de facto position of women; - efforts to confront the dominant gender-based ideology. This approach was based on recommendations of the independent expert committee, which in 1997 formulated the first National Report on implementation of the Convention. The committee analysed three sub-objectives in the Convention and recommended use of this conceptual approach to the implementation of each article of the Convention. 8 It is not clear why this approach has been abandoned since the government never lodged a formal change of opinion regarding the issue. The committee commended the government on its conceptual approach in In 2004, in General Recommendation No.25 on article 4, paragraph 1, the committee summarised the State Parties obligations, identifying the same three levels in para 7. The NGOs suggest that the Committee asks the government for clarification: did it change its conceptual approach on the implementation of the Convention and if so, why? Absolutely no reference to General Recommendations It is worrying that no references whatsoever are made to the General Recommendations of the Committee, neither in the report nor elsewhere, for instance in policies. The NGOs have included the General Recommendations in their assessment of the implementation of the Convention in this shadow report. It is also regrettable that the report is not paying any attention to specific groups of women apart from women of migrant origin. The reason for this might be that the government is not aware of the Committee s interpretation of the 7 See also chapter 6 of this shadow report. 8 Groenman 1997 and Van den Brink & Van Eerdewijk 2008, see also Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling, The Nature and Mandate of the Committee, in Schöpp-Schilling & Flinterman 2007, p. 258/

13 Part 1 General Remarks Convention that Article 14 implies covering the needs of specific groups, including women with disabilities, the girl child and elderly women. 10 NGOs suggest the Committee asks the government why no attention is being paid, for example in the report, to the General Recommendations. A related question could be why the government does not report about specific groups like women with disabilities, the girl child and elderly women. Is lack of sex-disaggregated data due to resistance to gender mainstreaming? As in the previous report, most government policies cited in the 5 th report lack data disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. Government policy papers and legislation has the same shortcoming. One reason is that various ministries do not understand that the disaggregated data are indispensable to check whether women are discriminated against. It is too often missing in the ministries. Significantly, several ministries explained to the Emancipation Review Commission that a gender specific approach is not necessary because general policies benefit men and women on equal footing. Whether this claim is correct or not cannot be proven since disaggregated data are not collected. The NGOs agree with the Emancipation Review Commission that these ministries seem to be in want of a basic knowledge of gender inequality. During the meeting on the list of issues and questions, government representatives explained the lack of sex-disaggregated data by the policy shift from target-group orientation to the tailor-made policy approach benefiting individuals. The NGOs do not consider this a satisfactory explanation. It is, for example, highly problematic that no disaggregated data are kept with regard to controversial measures like the (mandatory) participation of immigrants in civic integration courses (whether female only or mixed ), including the outcome of such courses etc. This fuels stereotyping in the public debate (see also Chapter 5). The government report states gender aspects will be dealt with ( ) where relevant (p.8 / p.18 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5 it. by the NGOs), without indicating who determines relevance. Appendix 4 monitoring within the ministries also shows that the monitoring is limited, taking place as much as possible, 11 while not even half of the ministries are included in the Appendix, suggesting the absence of a sense of urgency regarding the need to monitor. NGOs suggest that the Committee stresses, once again, during constructive dialogue the importance of collecting disaggregated data to gender and ethnicity, and the relevance of monitoring its policy impact. Different references to Convention text - intentional or not? It is confusing that the language in the government report paraphrasing or summarising the articles of the Convention is different from Convention-text. The NGOs are not sure whether this slightly different emphasis is intentional - implying a different interpretation of the obligations under the Convention. The Committee might wish clarification about the government s interpretation of its obligations under the Convention. 2. Policies Promoting Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming New impulse for emancipation policies not yet visible everywhere Soon after the previous Concluding Comments (CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/4), a new government took charge. Since then, gender equality and gender mainstreaming have definitely risen on the agenda. One of the positive aspects of these Concluding Comments involved Dutch international assistance and bilateral programmes designed to promote and protect women s rights. The new government even decided to step this up by making it one of the four priorities of its development cooperation policy. The NGOs commend the government on this. At the same time, there are considerable differences between ministries in prioritising gender equality and/or gender mainstreaming, as revealed by the Emancipation Review Commission. Some ministries responded quite defensively to the recommendations of the commission. 10 Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling, The Nature and Scope of the Convention, in Schöpp-Schilling & Flinterman 2007 p This applies to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment from Chapters Art. 1&2, 3, 4&11 in part 2 of this shadow-report it is clear that this is not very often. 11

14 Part 1 General Remarks Others have no targets and objectives whatsoever. Some ministers, for example the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports, even formulated new objectives and activities,. 12 In its answer to Q 6, the government draws too rosy a picture of the commitment of each ministry in achieving de facto equality between men and women. Concrete examples of shortcomings will be discussed in Part 2. The NGOs suggest the Committee requests a detailed overview of the recommendations of the Emancipation Review Commission and the government s policy view, per ministry. Fostering dialogue with civil society about Gender Mainstreaming A good example of fostering dialogue with civil society was the Taking Stock seminar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2009: this was a dialogue about gender mainstreaming between civil servants, NGOs and academics. 13 The NGOs think that a similar approach, conducting a dialogue between the ministry of justice, police, Public Prosecutor s Office, NGOs and academics could be very fruitful in the field of domestic violence. 14 Other ministries might benefit from such meetings as well. The NGOs suggest that the Committee asks whether the government will endorse a dialogue between relevant governmental agencies, NGOs and academics about gender mainstreaming domestic violence policies. Development of Emancipation Memorandum without consultation In the past, broad consultations always formed part of the process of drafting new policies with respect to promoting gender equality. Several State Advisory Councils, for instance, commented on the draft of the Multi-year Emancipation Policy Plan In addition, nearly forty NGOs sent in submissions for consideration. The Emancipation Review Commission also involved NGOs and experts from advisory councils in gender mainstreaming review processes. The creation of the Emancipation Memorandum in 2007, by contrast, took place without consultation with a single advisory council. Consultation with NGOs was limited to one meeting in which the NGOs could present short statements. After the Memorandum was published, only a few NGOs wrote comment. It made obvious the effects of the disappearance of expert centres for gender equality due to the shift in subsidy policies. In general, there is a feeling that the government hardly acknowledges the role of women as actors. It seems to target (some) women, without involving them as such. The Memorandum was extensively debated in Parliament and gave rise to many motions. The main criticism was lack of ambitions. In the chapters on individual articles of the Convention of this document, NGOs will make more specific comments to the (sub) objectives of the Emancipation Memorandum. The NGOs suggest the Committee asks the government why it decided not to engage into a consultation process, as would be logical in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. Government responsible for the elimination of discrimination Reading the answer to Q 6, the NGOs wonder whether the government is fully aware of the obligations it has under the CEDAW-Convention. It is particularly unclear as to why the implementation of the Convention is only mentioned under task No. 4. The NGOs think the Convention is the general framework for gender equality policy. It is not enough to encourage and support the promotion of gender equality in society. Under the provisions of CEDAW, the government is responsible for the elimination of discrimination against women, for women s improvement and advancement, and for combating gender stereotypes. It is not sufficient to take responsibility for the achievement of its own objectives; the government has to take all appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination by any person, organisation or enterprise (art. 2 e). The NGOs urge the Committee to engage with the government in a discussion of its obligations under CEDAW and the tasks of the coordinating minister for gender equality. 12 Parliamentary Papers II 2007/ nr This will be discussed in chapter Article The seminar is part of the joint On track with gender project, see 14 Römkens

15 Part 1 General Remarks Independent assessment of revitalised (gender mainstreaming) policy? The NGOs are pleased by the announcement of an (internal) mid-term review of the objectives of the Emancipation Memorandum and of the state of affairs with regard to gender mainstreaming. It would thus be interesting to know whether the government still adheres to the cabinet s opinion with regard to gender mainstreaming formulated in 2001, in which a clear role was foreseen for civil society, apart from the preconditions and responsibilities within the government s bureaucracy. The NGOs wonder whether the government also envisages an independent assessment at mid-term or later. They suggest the Committee asks the government. In constructive dialogue, the government can hopefully explain how it is implementing General Recommendation 6, more specifically with respect to effective national machinery with adequate resources, commitment and authority to advise on the impact on women of all government policies. Gender budget analyses and gender impact assessments vanish Though the Minister of Emancipation advised Parliament to consider it his responsibility to encourage his colleagues to undertake gender budget analyses and gender impact assessments, he has not been very successful in his efforts so far. 15 No use of these instruments has been commissioned. This is disturbing since a recent evaluation of the successes and failures of both instruments pointed at weak political support at the senior levels within bureaucracy and the political system. The authors also concluded that there was no clear governmental support and continued There has been a poor fit between the feminist frames of equality officials and gender experts and the gender-blind policy frames of other players. 16 The NGOs suggest the Committee invites the government to comment on the evaluation of the successes and failures of gender budget analysis and gender impact assessments as instruments. No support among NGOs for shift in the subsidy policies The NGOs are positive about the increase in funds to support the emancipation process. Neither the 5 th report, nor the answer to Q 6, mention that the additional budget is both for the advancement of women as well as to support the emancipation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people (LGBT). The NGOs appreciate the fact that Lesbian and Bisexual Women and Transgenders have acquired access to subsidies, though. But they explicitly disapprove of the shift from institutional funding to project subsidies, particularly to the extent the government has done this. They do not share the opinion that women s organisations and NGOs in the Netherlands should be totally financially sustained by their membership and constituency. 17 This is unfair regarding the achievements and contribution of NGOs. The government disregards the importance of autonomous women s organisations noted in the Beijing Platform for Action (chapter G). The preparation of this shadow-report was seriously hampered by the fact that most of the expert centres for gender equality and women s human rights have vanished due to loss of their core funding. In the slipstream, focal points and gender experts in some other institutions and NGOs seem to have disappeared as well. In its answer to Q 6, the government states it is providing an adequate knowledge infrastructure, but fails to mention that both remaining institutions had to face two more efficiency-cuts and are no longer allowed to criticise government s gender equality policies. Another objection against the shift in the funding and subsidy policy, described in the government s report (p. 10 / p. 20 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5) and the answer to Q 2, is that the subsidy is mainly awarded to professional (profit) organisations (not NGOs) and the like for projects targeting vulnerable women (not disadvantaged women ), without the meaningful participation and influence of the women themselves. The NGOs are of the opinion that empowerment of women means (amongst others) giving women a voice (and a say). Only in 15 Parliamentary Papers II 2007/ nr. 61 p Roggeband & Verloo 2006, p. 629, See also Beijenbergh et al 2009, Davids, Van Driel & Parren 2009, Verloo Parliamentary Papers II 2007/ nr. 119, p. 1 (letter of the minister responsible for coordination of emancipation policy) 13

16 Part 1 General Remarks that way can projects achieve sustainable results. The NGOs do not share the optimistic view of the government about transferability and followup of the 163 project subsidised under the subsidy-scheme, and suggest the Committee again raises the issue of core funding for women s rights organisations and civil society. Special women s vocational training lost through subsidy shift Before the shift in subsidy policies away from core funding to women s rights organisations, to a smaller project-subsidy budget, women s vocational training institutes, co-funded by the EU, received funding from the government. Neither the report nor the answer to Q 2 gives attention to the fact that this policy shift also meant that this specialised and successful approach in women s vocational training ( vrouwenvakscholing ) was forced to close down. The government does not seem to develop any special policies with respect to unskilled women; notwithstanding the fact that they face the highest levels of unemployment. Existing research has shown that specialised vocational training for adult women leads to far better results in their achieving economic independence than other reintegration instruments (see also paragraph Art. 3.6 and paragraph Art. 10.3). The NGOs suggest the Committee asks the government why it is silent about this regrettable loss of women s vocational training. 3. Discrepancies in the Dutch government s policies at home and abroad The NGOs notice discrepancies in the government s foreign policies vis-à-vis domestic policies. They are worried about the inconsistencies and ask the Committee to address these with the government. Different appreciation of the role of women s rights organisations One of the emerging strategies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to make additional resources available for equal rights for women and their empowerment (see 5 th report p. 25/ p. 48 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5). The government acknowledges that the one-sided emphasis on gender mainstreaming delivered inadequate results, since the focus on women s rights and empowerment had declined. This leads to an interesting apparent inconsistency in the government s policy approach. One ministry (Foreign Affairs) considers the role of women s organisations and NGOs in other countries of crucial importance for the promotion and protection of women s rights. Most of the 70 million budget targeted at gender is committed to this. The other ministry 18, responsible for domestic gender equality policies, seems to disregard women s organisations and women s rights NGOs: hardly any funding is available and almost no consultation takes place. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledges the need for a critical mass that can hold governments, social partners and other institutions accountable for achieving de factor gender equality, the existing women s rights structure in the Netherlands has been broken down over the last years. It s telling that the NGOs which had the expertise for drafting this shadow report on behalf of all NGOs wishing to contribute have disappeared. The production of the CEDAW-shadow report is now dependent on a project subsidy. 19 The NGOs suggest the Committee addresses the apparent double standards applied by different ministries regarding the role of women s rights organisations in constructive dialogue with the government. Promotion of LGBT-rights and the Yogyakarta Principles In 2006/7, an expert group of esteemed international human rights specialists drafted an elaborate charter applying existing human rights law provisions to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. 20 The experts systematically worked through human rights provisions accepted by and binding for a majority of UN member states and assessed the implications 18 Ministry of Education, Culture and Science 19 The other activities of the Dutch CEDAW Network are not funded by the government. 20 Amongst others: Swiebel

17 Part 1 General Remarks for LGBT individuals. At several international human rights fora, the Dutch government supported these so-called Yogyakarta Principles. NGOs are interested to know how the government applies the Yogyakarta Principles in its own country. Did it discuss a work programme with appropriate LGBT NGOs at home? Why was the government not willing to change its sterilisation requirement for transgenders, despite NGOs urgings, until the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe recommended doing so (see Chapter Art. 12). Is the government willing to discuss this with the Committee? Addressing the needs of the girl child abroad The Dutch government has no special actions aimed at the girl child, reported the government to the UNECE last March, during preparations for Beijing In the same month, it organised an International Girl Child Conference in The Hague. Children, girls in particular, are the most vulnerable members of our society; they therefore especially need support to achieve their rights said the Minister of Foreign Affairs at this conference. He was later twittering again about the subject and the efforts of the government abroad. In the Beijing + 15 report, the government states that it has no special policy measures in five of the twelve critical areas of concern. At international fora, the government repeatedly promotes the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, but it is silent on the subject at home. In this context, the NGOs consider it worrying that combating incest seems to have low priority on the agenda of the Dutch government. The NGOs suggest that the Committee enquires why the government does not implement several of the critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform at home, including improving the position of the Girl Child and combating incest. The significant synergy between the substantive content of the Convention and the Beijing Platform for Action (CEDAW reporting guidelines I 1.1) seems lacking in the Netherlands the Committee might also wish to address this in constructive dialogue. Combating violence against women abroad - domestic violence at home The NGOs appreciate that, at the international level, the Dutch government takes a very active role in the development of strategies and programmes against violence against women. At home, however, despite several recommendations of the Committee, despite extensive lobbying by women s rights NGOs, domestic violence is still addressed as a gender-neutral issue, awaiting more research before deploying strategies to combat sexual violence. The NGOs elaborate on this subject in Chapter Art. 1 & 2. The Committee could ask the government s views: is its first responsibility really with the women confronting (sexual) violence elsewhere in the world? Why not put the same effort into adequate national policies for combating violence against women? 4. Status of CEDAW The Dutch NGOs remain concerned about the government s view with respect to the status of the Convention in the domestic legal order, including the status of the CEDAW-Committee, its views regarding communications under the Optional Protocol and its concluding observations. Instruction to state solicitor not to acknowledge direct effect of CEDAW Given the Dutch legal system, the government is correct in stating that the question of whether a stipulation of the Convention is binding to all parties is, in the final instance, determined by Dutch courts in individual cases (p. 11/12 / p. 22/23 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5). In two recent court cases a major issue was whether or not (particular) CEDAW provisions were directly applicable. In both cases, the state solicitor held that CEDAW has no direct effect. The first case was against the state with regard to its funding of the SGP, the political party which excludes women from full membership. See government report (p. 63/64 / p. 118/119 in CEDAW/C/NLD/5). The second dealt with the 2004 abolishment of maternity benefits for entrepreneurs. The State again took the view that (the provisions of) CEDAW 21 Directorate for Emancipation 2009 no page (p. 15 under L). This report did not meet the reporting guidelines in the Questionnaire to Governments either. 15

18 Part 1 General Remarks cannot have direct effect. The State even referred to CEDAW Communication No.3/2004 Nguyen/The Netherlands to underline the discretion state parties have with respect to all appropriate measures, but quoted selectively. 22 The NGOs urge the Committee to ask the Dutch government why it instructed the state solicitor to hold that the Convention has no direct effect and why the state solicitor quoted CEDAW Communication No.3/2004 selectively. Dutch individual complaints according to the Optional Protocol In its answer to Q 4, the government reports on the four individual complaints that have been filed. NGOs view the fact that three individual complaints have been found inadmissible because of failure to exhaust domestic remedies as an illustration of the lawyers ignorance of the possibilities under the Optional Protocol. NGOs find it illustrative that two of those three claimed to be trafficking victims, and consider this as indicative of the need for improvement of the protection the Dutch system offers to victims of trafficking (see Chapter Art. 6). 23 As to the first Dutch case under the Optional Protocol, which was found admissible (Communication 3/2004), NGOs do not agree with the government s conclusion that it has no consequences for the Netherlands. As with other jurisprudence, not only the final outcome (violation or not) but also the considerations of the CEDAW-Committee, are relevant. Moreover, in their view the state s solicitor ought to have requested a full explanation of why the Court (and the Court of Appeals) disagrees with the view of the CEDAW-Committee. Only in that way can the judiciary and government show that they take the Optional Protocol seriously. The NGOs urge the Committee to ask the government whether it is willing to make a legal provision requesting full explanations when the judiciary disagrees with the view of the CEDAW-Committee. Low usage of CEDAW in court cases In general, only in very few court cases is reference made to CEDAW, compared with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Since the year 2000, just over 20 cases could be identified, five relating to the political party SGP, a few on maternity benefits for entrepreneurs and the one described below. The Dutch government reported that the ICCPR was cited in 148 cases in 2006, 152 in 2007 and 163 in Several feminist lawyers have been approached to find an explanation, and all agreed that hardly any attention (if any at all) was being paid to CEDAW in their specialised training. An example of how the judiciary generally acts is the short case to extend the public screening-programme for breast cancer to women beyond the age of 75. This programme is now limited to the age group 50-75, while the category 75+ runs the biggest risk. Reference was being made to art. 1 and 2 of CEDAW, as well as to other (inter) national legislation. The lawsuit was lost and appeal is still pending. The judge did not discuss the applicability of CEDAW. The NGOs wonder whether an obligation for judges to justify the (non) applicability of international legislation could help. The Committee could ask the government s view about this. Referring to CEDAW when implementing gender equality policies? NGOs do not share the government s view that there is no need to refer to CEDAW in its implementation of gender equality policies. A second problem is that local and provincial authorities seem to take very little responsibility for implementing CEDAW. In addition, the national government completely fails to monitor the achievements of provincial and local authorities in eliminating discrimination against women. 22 The Women s Rights Fund Clara Wichmann is currently seeking legal advice so as to appeal to the Supreme Court. The NGOs support that appeal. The judgement will be discussed in paragraph Art. 4& CEDAW/C/42/D/15/2007 (Zhen Zheng Zheng) can be accessed via (last visit ) and is included in Jaarbericht 2008 p /2005 (Haroetjoenian) and 14/2007 (Hu Lin Ping) cannot be found. 24 CCPR/C/NLD/4/Add.1 A2, in response to CCPR/C/NLD/Q/4 16

19 Part 1 General Remarks Using the search machine of the Parliaments website 25, an assessment was made of how many times reference was being made to the Convention in parliamentary papers. The outcome was disappointing: in no legislation was the Convention mentioned. In 2008, the Convention was mentioned 23 times in parliamentary papers, mainly due to activities by the Dutch CEDAW-Network, never on the initiative of the government (except for sending the 5 th report to Parliament). In 2007, references amounted to 34: the Emancipation Review Commission s reports were submitted to Parliament, and government informed Parliament about its constructive dialogue with the Committee and the Concluding Comments. The rest were a result of activities undertaken by the Dutch CEDAW Network. In most years, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is better represented in parliamentary activities; it seems to play a more explicit role in legislation. For comparison: In each of the last few years far more than 150 references were made to the ILO convention. The NGOs suggest the Committee asks the government to justify its lack of reference to the Convention in legislation and in correspondence with Parliament. No active distribution of General Recommendations of CEDAW General Recommendations 25 and 26 have not been translated into Dutch, nor sent to Parliament and (presumably) to the ministries. Though the 5 th report claims that Recommendation 25 on article 4 has been translated, NGOs noted that it has not been posted on the internet. 26 Moreover, neither Parliament nor other ministries have been informed about General Recommendation 26 on Women Migrant Workers (see also the chapters Article 4/11 and 6 of this shadow report). In its answer to Q 5, the government remains silent about the General Recommendations. The NGOs suggest the Committee requests the government to clarify its position regarding General Recommendations of CEDAW. In-depth assessments of the implementation of CEDAW abolished Until a few years ago, at regular intervals, the government commissioned independent experts to carry out in depth research on the manner in which specific articles of the Convention could be interpreted and implemented. This was an excellent way of promoting the Convention, because it encouraged debate among experts, NGOs, civil servants, the government and the Parliament. Although the previous government did not bother to formulate a view on the recommendations of two studies about article 5A in 2004 (effect on social security, and significance for the elimination of structural gender discrimination), the NGOs are disappointed that the new government still disregards the studies and accompanying recommendations. Moreover, the present government does not seem to be prepared to restore this tradition of in-depth research. The NGOs have noticed though that members of the CEDAW-Committee appreciated the in-depth researches. 27 The NGOs suggest the Committee addresses the possibility of once more promoting the Convention via in-depth assessments in conjunction with the next item. National reports shrink to policy-oriented single-theme research In its answer to Q 5, the government announced the theme of the next national report in respect of the CEDAW-Convention: the health of women from ethnic minorities. Although the NGOs welcome more research into this matter, they have serious reservations about the reduction of the national report to a policy-oriented single-theme research. At ratification, Parliament requested a national report every four years on the implementation of the Convention, alternating with the 4-yearly reports to the Committee. The rationale was that the government should not only account to the Committee, but also to the Parliament. By assigning the national report to an independent expert committee, the government organised a critical assessment of its implementation efforts. However, after two critical but constructive reports, the government has abandoned this approach, along with in-depth studies on the implementation of the Convention, just leaving a Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling, Impediments to Progress: the Formal Labor Market, in Schöpp-Schilling & Flinterman 2007 p.178, footnote 14 17

20 Part 1 General Remarks policy-oriented single-theme research unrelated to the obligations under the Convention. This means no independent assessment of the implementation of the Convention is being financed except for the shadow report. The NGOs notice that Parliament is confused about the reduction of the national reports to single theme-reports, while the government is not prepared to discuss with Parliament its report to CEDAW before the Committee has published its concluding observations. 28 The NGOs regret that the Dutch government has abandoned its daring and unique strategy of inviting independent critical observations about its implementation of the CEDAW- Convention. They urge the Committee to request the rehabilitation of the national reports and in-depth assessments, or at least one of those. 28 The NGOs note that there is some confusion in the answers of the government as well: contrary to the answer to Q 5, the government did not introduce a national report in The first national report was published in 1997 (Groenman 1997), the second in 2003 (Marchand 2003). The amendment read to send every four years to the Parliament a report about the implementation in the Netherlands of CEDAW. In their explanation, the politicians added that the views of the Equal Treatment Commission, the Emancipation Advisory Council and the NGOs ought to be included in this national report. Another indication of confusion within the government is to be found in the Beijing + 15 report: Every two years the Minister for Emancipation also makes a national report for Parliament, based on 1 or more articles of the UN-Women s Convention. Always in close operation with the ministry that is responsible for the policy area that is concerned. Directorate for Emancipation 2009, no page number (p.6). 18

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